1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to child-resistant closure and container systems. Specifically, the invention relates to a plastic vial and child-resistant cap systems especially adapted for storage of moisture sensitive materials, such as pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, that are both child-resistant and easier for adults to open than currently available designs.
2. Background Information
Child-resistant closures for moisture-sensitive materials, such as prescription and over-the-counter drugs, are known. One prior art child-resistant closure system is known as the Calmar design. The Calmar cap includes a skirt on the inside of which is an annular groove which snaps over a corresponding annular bead on the container's neck finish. The neck bead does not extend around the entire circumference of the neck, thereby defining a gate opening. Child-resistance is provided by a gate and a pair of locking lugs on the skirt which fit underneath the neck finish bead. To open the container, the cap is rotated so that the gate is aligned with the gate opening. A thumb tab on the outside of the cap indicates the location of the gate. An alignment reference mark on the container indicates the location of the gate opening.
The Calmar design suffers from several shortcomings. Specifically, in order to provide an adequate moisture barrier, the neck and cap groove are designed to interfit each other so tightly that the resulting friction excessively impedes rotation of the cap. As a result, opening the package requires firm grasping of the closure. Rotation of the cap is oftentimes very onerous, especially for arthritis sufferers. Making the cap and closure tolerances so tight as to provide an adequate moisture barrier also makes snapping the cap back in place difficult, thereby adding to the user's discomfort. Furthermore, aligning the thumb tab with the alignment reference mark is often difficult for visually impaired persons due to the small size of the thumb tab relative to the size of the cap. Finally, because the thumb tab is small and made from a hard, stiff plastic, significant pressure must sometimes be applied to the tab once the cap and container are aligned in order to pop the cap off the container. Application of this much pressure will sometimes be painful and sometimes leave a temporary impression of the tab in the user's finger. Accordingly, aligning and lifting the cap can be a frustrating and sometimes painful ordeal at a time when pain relief is desired most. Therefore, there is a need for a design which overcomes these shortcomings.
There is also a need for a one-piece easy-to-use closure which is both child-resistant and non-child resistant to accommodate both the need for children's safety and the convenience of adult consumers in situations in which children are not at risk of being harmed by the container contents. As noted above, one deficiency of currently available child-resistant container and closure systems is the difficulty that even adults face when attempting to open a child-resistant container.
The foregoing drawbacks have contributed to the gradual decrease in popularity of the Calmar system of child-resistant packaging in favor of more expensive systems, such as torque-actuated continuous threaded closures. Furthermore, implementation of proposed Consumer Product Safety Commission standards requiring that all childresistant packaging also be "senior friendly" are expected to lead to further decreases in the popularity of the Calmar finish.
There also continues to be a need for tamper-evident packaging that accommodates two independent indicators of tampering. Two preferred indicators are a film barrier seal across the mouth of the container and a close-fitting shrink-wrap type plastic film over the closure and container.
These and other unmet needs in the art are satisfied by one or more exemplary embodiments of the invention disclosed herein.